I am a retired Master Cake Decorator (40+ years in a large bakery plus part time home based business)...I worked in the Buttercream years. Since retired I'm a fondant "piddler"...making embellishments for buttercream cakes that I make now just for family.

Lookling ahead to a cake for a family New Years gathering I'm wondering if the Wilton alphabet/number cutter set would be good for very occasional use, or could anyone recommend a set......remember....its now a hobby so I don't want to spend a fortune.

I'd like to do a 6" and 9" with "Happy New Year" cutouts on the sides....stars curley q's, etc. on top.

I think they would be great for what you are looking for. If you want to look for something else, then I'd say look for Tappits. They aren't overly expensive.

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=21694 I did the saying on this one with the Wilton letters.

I do have the Tappits but haven't used them yet. You can get different fonts with them as well as upper and lower case letters.

Depends what you want them for really. I have the Wilton set, and also a couple of the Tappits sets. The Wilton letters are quite small (about an inch..?), and rounded. The Tappits sets are both larger; the regular font is about 1.5", and the fancy font is a bit larger than that. Doesn't sound much difference, but there really is if you have to fit "Happy Birthday Mrs Williams" or something on an 8" cake!

Personally I prefer the Tappits. I think the fonts are more stylish. Cost-wise, there's not much in it between them and Wilton.

I prefer the tappits too. Like a PP said, I find them more stylish and the cuts are just much cleaner. I guess it's because you don't need to push the paste out of the cutter, like you do with the Wilton set. Instead you just 'tap' them on the table and they fall right out.

I bought the Wilton alphabet/number set a few weeks ago. I don't have the best handwriting. They're fairly small, so getting the fondant out of the cutter is tough. I've had people tell me to dip the cutter in crisco first, so I'll try that next time. Just be advised that they are small!!